1 . “No act of kindness,no matter how small,is ever wasted."
－Aesop
Today is Random Acts of Kindness Day.It's a day set aside to show extra kindness to the people around us-those we know and those we don't.Smiling and saying a few encouraging words is easy. But an act of kindness is something you actually do.A random act of kindness is usually unexpected and unplanned.Maybe you help someone carry groceries.Maybe you pay for a stranger's coffee.Or maybe send an encouraging note to a friend.
Caring for others is nothing new.In fact,the Bible tells everyone to"Love your neighbor as yourself."But who is your neighbor?There is an example in the story of"The Good Samaritan”。
It tells of a traveler who was robbed and beaten.A religious leader saw the man lying in the road but didn't stop to help.Another religious man also ignored him.But a Samaritan came along.He was a foreigner.He showed compassion and took care of the strangers' needs.He showed mercy.
Is helping strangers a thing of the past?Are people today too busy or too afraid to help someone they don't know?I know from experience that goodwill between strangers still exists.
One Sunday morning I was running late for church.As I started to drive off,I noticed an elderly lady.She was dragging a large piece of wood out of the rain.I was in a hurry,but I hesitated.Then I stopped my car,got out and helped her move the wood.
Months went by.Then one day,I saw some workmen cleaning out an old store.There in the pile of trash was a large Coca-cola cooler.How fun!A worker said I could have it,so I picked it up and started home.I didn't get very far.It was much heavier than I thought.Then out of the blue,the elderly lady appeared with a cart!I had helped her,and she was returning the favor.Go and help your neighbor today!
1. Which of the following is NOT a random act of kindness?| A．Smiling and saying a few encouraging words. |
| B．Helping an old man cross the street. |
| C．Paying for a stranger's breakfast. |
| D．Sending an encouraging note to a friend. |
| A．Happily | B．Fortunately | C．Surprisingly | D．Excitedly |
| A．By making a comparison. | B．By giving an example. |
| C．By explaining reasons. | D．By stating opinions. |
| A．Love Your Neighbors | B．Random Acts of kindness |
| C．Random Kindness Pays Off | D．It's Never Too Late to Help Others |
2 . No matter what type of business you run, it has to deal with things that go wrong from your customer’s point of view. Complaints can be a great source of information for organizations to make corrections as well as further improvements.
Secondly,
Thirdly, talk with the client and discover the best means to resolve his problem.
In this case it’s important to let your customer know an estimation of how long it will take to take action on his complaint.
Fourthly, a simple “Thank you”is one way to let the customers know you appreciate the time and effort they’ve taken to inform you about a problem of your company’s service or product that you need to know about.
Finally, create a procedure for recording different types of customer complaints.
| A．Listen to your customer’s complaints and you can improve your service. |
| B．There will be times when you’ll be unable to resolve the issue immediately. |
| C．When receiving a complaint, you should apologize for the failure the customer has identified. |
| D．They are a valuable source of information to determine various root causes that need to be addressed within your company. |
| E．So it’s important to learn to deal with customers’ complaints efficiently. |
| F．Don't feel ashamed of the failure in your service or product. |
| G．You should also show your customer that you do understand him by giving full attention. |
3 . On the night of December 8, 1992, when he was standing in a parking lot talking to friends, Tracy March jumped to the top of a car, as he had done a hundred times before. This time, though, Tracy lost his balance. His head struck the ground, hard.
All night, Cory, Tracy’s mother, stood next to her son, who was lying in a hospital bed, his brown eyes fixed in a lifeless stare. She remembered that Tracy had once mentioned organ donation. Maybe I can spare another family this pain, she thought. When the time came, she and her husband Bill signed the forms permitting his organs to be donated.
Tracy was declared dead the next day. Twenty-four hours later, in a Boston hospital, Tracy’s liver was made part of my husband, David, who was suffering from a hopeless liver disease.
Months later, we learned from the local organ bank that the donor’s parents wished desperately to meet someone who had gained life through the gift from their son. A meeting was arranged by the organ bank to bring together two families linked by the most bittersweet ties imaginable.
The meeting was risky, but worth it. We talked for 3 hours. They showed us a picture of Tracy. We learned how he had lived and died. We learned something about Bill and Cory too.
For the Marches, seeing David and knowing he was well seemed to ease their suffering. I’ll never forget seeing David’s tall figure stopped over Cory, her arms around his waist, as a mother would hug a son. For a long time they held each other tight. It was hard to know if she was saying hello or good-bye. Maybe she was saying both.
1. We learn from the passage that Tracy died _______.| A．of brain damage | B．on December 8, 1992 |
| C．24 hours after he fell off the roof of a car | D．in a car crash |
| A．Tracy told them to do so just before he died |
| B．they wanted to save others the pain of seeing dear one die |
| C．David’s life could continue in a meaningful way |
| D．they knew David was suffering from a hopeless liver disease |
| A．they saw that David looked very much like their son |
| B．they now knew for sure they had done the right thing |
| C．they now had someone to share their memories of Tracy |
| D．they saw that David had regained health with Tracy’s liver |
4 . Emma and Ryan, a married couple, were driving to a friend’s house when Emma turned to Ryan and asked, “Would you like to stop for lunch?”
Ryan replied, “No, I’m not hungry yet,” and continued driving. Meanwhile, Emma sat quietly fuming (十分恼火) in the passenger seat. Ryan could not understand why Emma was unhappy. He had thought she was asking if he was hungry, but in reality, Emma was telling him that she was hungry and wanted to stop for lunch.
Misunderstandings like this often occur between men and women, even among people from the same culture. Deborah Tannen, professor of linguistics at Georgetown University in the United States, has studied conversational rules.
In Emma and Ryan’s situation, Emma was making a request in the form of a question. Her style of talking is common for women. She needed Ryan to agree they were both hungry. So, Emma asked Ryan what he wanted. She was really telling Ryan what she wanted; however, Ryan did not understand this. If he had been hungry, he would have said something more direct, such as, “I’m hungry. Let’s have lunch.”
Tannen believes that most women grow up in a world where talk is used to express feelings. However, most men are raised differently and they tend to keep their feelings to themselves.
Tannen says, for men, talk is often used as a situation used outside the home to gain respect, to entertain and get attention, or to exchange information. This is why men communicate by making each other laugh, or talking about sport and work. These men do not always feel it is necessary to talk to feel close or to express their feelings. Women, on the other hand, are encouraged to speak about their feelings since this is a way to build relationships.
1. What can be inferred from Emma and Ryan’s story?| A．Emma didn’t like Ryan. |
| B．Ryan didn’t want to talk to Emma. |
| C．Ryan didn’t want to eat with Emma. |
| D．Emma wasn’t pleased with Ryan’s answer. |
| A．Different cultures. |
| B．Different characteristics. |
| C．Different ways of communicating. |
| D．Different educational background. |
| A．talk less about feelings |
| B．communicate more with others |
| C．are more likely to become angry |
| D．are better at building relationships |
| A．Why women like to express feelings |
| B．How men and women communicate |
| C．Different ways of supporting a child |
| D．Misunderstandings in social communication |
5 . In court at 9 o'clock. Apart from me there are a few old ladies who have come to the court and a class of 14-15 year-olds with their teacher.
9:05 Court starts. First case: Henry P., 47, divorced, charged with being drunk. He refused to leave a pub at closing time and caused a bit of damage when the police tried to arrest him. P. said he had had an argument with his boss and could not face going home to an empty flat.
9:50 Mrs F., 72, shoplifting (店内偷窃). Apparently Mrs F. had stolen a frozen chicken, which she had hidden under her hat (At this the school children burst out laughing and even the judges have difficulty keeping a straight face). The chicken was so cold that she fell unconscious, otherwise she would probably not have been caught. Mrs F, in tears, says she had not eaten meat for three weeks. It turns out that, although she has the old - age pension, she does not know about other forms of support.
10:30 Peter D., 19. D. stole, or rather “borrowed” a motorcycle, intending, he said, to give it back to the owner after trying it out. D.’s father is at sea and the mother is left to bring up four children, of whom Peter is the eldest, by herself.
11:00 Mrs A., 45, a doctor’s wife, president of a local ladies’ club, was caught leaving a fashion shop wearing two dresses, only one of which belonged to her. Admitting that she had wanted to steal the dress, she could not explain why.
1. What did Henry P. do when he was caught?| A．He damaged the pub. | B．He attacked the police. |
| C．He bothered other customers. | D．He quarreled with his boss. |
| A．Active. | B．Amusing. | C．Pitiful. | D．Ridiculous. |
| A．Henry P. | B．Mrs F. | C．Peter | D．Mrs A. |
6 . Two of the hardest things to accomplish in this world are to acquire wealth by honest effort and,having gained it,to learn how to use it properly.Recently I walked into the locker room of a rather well known golf club after finishing a round.It was in the late afternoon and most of the members had left for their homes.But a half-dozen or so men past middle age were still seated at tables talking aimlessly and drinking more than was good for them.These same men can be found there day after day,and,strangely enough,each one of these men had been a man of affairs and wealth, successful in business and respected in the community.If material prosperity were the chief necessity for happiness, then each one should have been happy.Yet,it seemed to me,something very important was missing,else（否则）there would not have been the constant effort to escape the realities of life through scotch and soda.They knew,each one of them,that their productivity had ceased（停止）.When a fruit tree ceases to bear its fruit,it is dying.And it is even so with man.
What is the answer to a long and happy existence in this world of ours?I think I found it long ago in a passage from the book of Genesis which caught my eye while I was looking through my Bible.The words were few,but they became memorably impressed on my mind.“In the sweat of the face shall you eat the bread.”
To me,that has been a challenge from my earliest recollections(memories).In fact,the battle of life,of existence,is a challenge to everyone.The immortal words of St.Paul,too,have been and always will be a great inspiration to me.At the end of the road I want to be able to feel that I have fought a good fight,I have finished the course,I have kept the faith.
1. The underlined sentence “In the sweat of the face shall you eat the bread” means “ ”.| A．Bread tastes delicious when sweat pours off your face |
| B．Bread comes from the sweat on your face |
| C．Failure is the mother of success |
| D．No pains,no gains |
| A．was a wealthy person in the community |
| B．was fond of associating with celebrities（名人） |
| C．held a positive attitude towards an active life |
| D．kept a secret of the reason why he was so impressed |
| A．To use wealth properly,eat,drink and be merry. |
| B．If you cease to struggle,you cease to live. |
| C．As life is but like a dream,a man is like a fruit tree. |
| D．Where there is a will,there is a way. |
“Hey, David, how are you?” one of the senior partners at the firm asks you.
“Good, thank you, Dr. Greer,” you reply. You’ve really been wanting to make a connection with the senior leadership at the firm, and this seems like a great opportunity. But as you start to think of something to say, your American colleague breaks in to steal your spotlight.
“So Arnold”, your colleague says to your boss, in such a casual manner that it makes your German soul cringe(畏缩), “So what’s your Super bowl prediction? I mean, you’re a Niners fan, right?”
The conversation moves on, and you walk silently back to your desk with your coffee. You know how important small talk is in the U.S., and you feel jealous of people who can do it well.
There’s nothing small about the role that small talk plays in American professional culture. People from other countries are often surprised at how important small talk is in the U.S. and how naturally and comfortably people seem to do it ------ with peers, men, women, and even with superiors. You can be the most technically skilled worker in the world, but your ability to progress in your job in the United States is highly dependent on your ability to build and maintain positive relationships with people at work. And guess what skill is critical for building and maintaining these relationships? Small talk.
What can you do if you are from another culture and want to learn to use small talk in the U.S. to build relationships and establish trust? Work hard to hone(磨练) your own version of American-style small talk. Watch how others do it. You don’t have to mimic what they do; in fact, that would likely backfire because people would see you as inauthentic. But if you can develop your own personal version, that can go a long way toward making you feel comfortable and competence．
1. The author introduces the topic of the passage by______.
| A．describing an interesting scene |
| B．offering a plot |
| C．making comparisons |
| D．telling a small jokes |
| A．They usually make small talk in work breaks． |
| B．They hate making small talk． |
| C．They don’t make so much small talk． |
| D．They are good at making small talk too． |
| A．American workers’ ability to make progress． |
| B．American workers’ attitude towards superiors． |
| C．The special meaning of small talk． |
| D．The role small talk plays in work settings． |
| A．have a warm atmosphere |
| B．have the opposite effect |
| C．have a good result |
| D．have a hard time |
8 . You may not pay much attention to your daily elevator ride. Many of us use a lift several times during the day without really thinking about it. But Lee Gray, PhD, of the University of North Carolina, US, has made it his business to examine this overlooked form of public transport. He is known as the “Elevator Guy”.
“The lift becomes this interesting social space where etiquette (礼仪) is sort of odd (奇怪的),” Gray told the BBC. “They [elevators] are socially very interesting but often very awkward places.”
We walk in and usually turn around to face the door. If someone else comes in, we may have to move. And here, according to Gray, liftusers unthinkingly go through a set pattern of movements. He told the BBC what he had observed.
He explained that when you are the only one inside a lift, you can do whatever you want – it’s your own little box.
If there are two of you, you go into different corners, standing diagonally (对角线地) across from each other to create distance.
When a third person enters, you will unconsciously form a triangle. And when there is a fourth person it becomes a square, with someone in every corner. A fifth person is probably going to have to stand in the middle.
New entrants to the lift will need tosize upthe situation when the doors slide open and then act decisively. Once in, for most people the rule is simple – look down, or look at your phone.
Why are we so awkward ( adj. 尴尬的) in lifts?
“You don’t have enough space,” Professor Babette Renneberg, a clinical psychologist at the Free University of Berlin, told the BBC. “Usually when we meet other people we have about an arm’s length of distance between us. And that’s not possible in most elevators.”
In such a small, enclosed space it becomes very important to act in a way that cannot be construed (理解) as threatening or odd. “The easiest way to do this is to avoid eye contact,” she said.
1. The main purpose of the article is to _____.| A．remind us to enjoy ourselves in the elevator |
| B．tell us some unwritten rules of elevator etiquette |
| C．share an interesting but awkward elevator ride |
| D．analyze what makes people feel awkward in an elevator |
| A．turn around and greet one another |
| B．look around or examine their phone |
| C．make eye contact with those in the elevator |
| D．try to keep a distance from other people elevator? |
| A．A | B．B | C．C | D．D |
| A．judge | B．ignore | C．put up with | D．make the best of |
| A．someone’s odd behaviors |
| B．the lack of space |
| C．their unfamiliarity with one another |
| D．their eye contact with one another |
A few weeks ago he boarded the bus. A few stops later, a young woman boarded. She swiped (刷) her bus-card, only to find the machine would not accept it. The driver told her to pay the $2.25 fare. “I just bought this card,” she said. “I paid the money...”
The driver said she could take the card back to the sales office and explain the problem. In the meantime she would have to pay the fare for that day. The woman became confused and distressed. The rest of us just watched, wondering how the problem would be solved. Suddenly the man rose from his seat, dropped a few coins into the fare box.
“You’re lucky,” the bus driver said quietly. “He paid for you.” Silence fell over the bus. The rest of us had watched the woman’s discomfort, but he felt it. We lawyers, journalists and business people headed downtown to help fix the world. He fixed her world.
I haven’t seen him since that day. Some people believe angels occasionally drop down and move among us. All I know is that I have a new respect for the simple act of kindness. It speeds us along on our way.
1. According to the first paragraph, the author _______.
| A．thinks highly of the man |
| B．often gives the man some help |
| C．knows the man very well |
| D．considers the man strange |
| A．exited | B．generous | C．bored | D．anxious |
| A．to show concern for other people. |
| B．to lead a happy life like the man. |
| C．to share what he has with us. |
| D．to believe that people are born kind. |
